I do most of my reading before bed – for a few reasons. First, having some youngers, I do plenty of reading- reading aloud – during the day. Second, if I sit and read during the day, like during the little one’s nap time, I fall asleep. Sometimes that is probably good, because there is no other time to sleep. But more often now, I’m getting a larger chunk of sleep at night, and I’d rather not nap, but just get things done during the day and go to bed earlier.

I try not to juggle too many books in my to-do reading stack. To have a few going at once is a CM suggestion and often a common practice among CMers, but, again, after a day of reading aloud from various books, hearing narrations from various books, writing lessons for history, picture study, composer, Bible and geography, I feel like I have some variety, and so I keep one main narrative book going at night. I usually have a stiffer, more informational book on the bed stand, but it sits there for years because at the end of the day, I’m too tired for thinking. I have one that stays in the car for those off chances that I can read while traveling to a destination (when someone else is driving!) or if I get a free minute at an outing. The car-book takes a year or so to complete, because these free car/outing reading times are rare.

This is my book rating system. It’s easy, short and sweet.

How many pages did I read before I fell asleep? As a loose rule, the more pages read before Mr. Sandman hit, the more the book held my drained attention.

Simple as that.

☑ = A ONE PAGE rating. Means I could finish one page before falling asleep (often with the book propped up in my hands).

☑☑ = A TWO PAGER. Means I could finish two pages before falling asleep.

☑☑☑ = A THREE PAGER. Means I could finish three pages before falling asleep.

☑☑☑☑ = A FOUR PAGE rating. Means I could finish four pages before falling asleep. Four is about my max for most any book.

☑☑☑☑☑ = A FIVE PAGE rating. Rare, based on the fact that I can’t stay awake that long no matter how good the book is.

 

A couple other symbols I’ll use now and then

☾ =I stayed up waaayyy too late, reading a bunch of pages, finishing the book because it was just that good. The next day was groggy but worth it.

😦 =  So sad when the book was finished. I often flounder around after finishing a good book. I suppose there might be a few reasons — I’m still ruminating and relishing in the finished book, the thought that I’ll never find another book so good, and a feeling that I don’t really want to meet any other book-friend because this friend was just fine.

Maybe I’ll add a few notes about content, maybe a quote….

You’ll find that I prefer historically based stories and books that are fairly realistic. Sci-fi -not preferred. Fantasy – not preferred. I rarely want to spend my precious little time reading them when there are so many out there that I do want to read. I read Alice and Wonderland as a child and hated every dragging, contorted minute of it. I know, I know, CM says imagination….but then again, I’m allowed preferences, because I, too, am a person.

But this all reminds me of one of my farourite parts of one of my favourite (realistic) books:

Anne Shirley speaking to Marilla, “Don’t you ever imagine things differently from what they are?”

“No.”

“Oh Marilla, how much you miss.”